Mexican soldiers patrol the streets of Reynosa on Mexico's northeastern border with the U.S. on March 17, 2009. / Alexandre Meneghini, AP

by David Agren, Special for USA TODAY

by David Agren, Special for USA TODAY

ACAPULCO, Mexico â?? Catholic priest JesÃºs Mendoza ministers to a working-class neighborhood in the hills of Acapulco that are a world away from the tourist resort destination below.

He says one parishioner had three of his daughters abducted for a $2,500 ransom. Business owners are being forced to pay off extortionists. And 120 parishioners are either missing, kidnapped or have been killed over the past six years.

As Mexico prepares for the arrival of President Obama on Thursday, he will come to a country that is still suffering from widespread violence against ordinary citizens from organized criminal and drug cartels. But he will also find that Mexico President Enrique PeÃ±a Nieto, who took office Dec. 1, has little interest in talking about crime or getting more help from the United States to combat it.

"This new government has a media strategy to minimize the subject of violence as the country's main problem and give the impression that good times are coming, beginning with their actions," Mendoza says.

That campaign, say Mendoza and others, is to market Mexico to the world by tamping down talk of country where drug kingpins control whole districts with unremitting violence and portray Mexico as an emerging economic power and safe haven for foreign investment.

That strategy was on display this week when the Interior Ministry announced that U.S. federal law enforcement agencies will no longer be allowed to work directly with its police and intelligence departments but must go through the ministry itself. The move is part of several aimed at preventing crime rather than undertaking large-scale operations to eliminate the drug kingpins who are a primary concern of the United States.

Mexico's drug syndicates are the No. 1 supplier of illegal drugs into the United States. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has said Mexico cartels are also infiltrating drug-selling operations in major U.S. cities and taking over.

According to a 2011 Justice Department report, Mexican drug cartels "represent the greatest organized crime threat to the United States."

Obama visits Mexico on Thursday and Friday for meetings expected to touch on economic issues as much the security situation. But the PeÃ±a Nieto administration intends to emphasize matters such as achieving structural changes in the energy sector and tax system, creating jobs and growing the Mexican economy.

Security often topped the agendas of past meetings between Obama and then-president Felipe CalderÃ³n. U.S. agents began working in greater numbers south of the border under President George W. Bush and that help has continued under Obama. But analysts say PeÃ±a Nieto is distancing himself from the security problems to improve Mexico's image abroad.

"He is downplaying the number of murders," says George Grayson, Mexico expert at the College of William & Mary. "He wants to turn the debate to social and economic issues."

PeÃ±a Nieto has stopped publicizing the high-profile arrests and police actions that CalderÃ³n trumpeted in his administration's anti-crime crackdown. Though the arrests made headlines in the United States, less well known are the 65,000 Mexicans killed and 25,000 people missing from the cartels' war against each other and the government's operations to break them.

PeÃ±a Nieto has ended the perp walks, when captured cartel kingpins were paraded before the press. The military no longer invites the media here to witness soldiers burning marijuana plantations and tanks rolling over seized weapons.

Mexican media are downplaying the violence, too. The Observatory for Coverage of Violence reported that the words "organized crime" were published 50% less frequently on newspaper front pages and have appeared 70% less often on TV since Dec. 1.

Some analysts say that pushing economic initiatives instead of security solutions plays to the strengths of the new administration.

"The inside circle of this government (contains) people promoting an economic agenda," says Shannon O'Neil, analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations.

The number of U.S. agents based in Mexico and working on anti-drug, intelligence and security matters has also expanded. It's uncertain those agents will continue having close contact with their Mexican counterparts under the PeÃ±a Nieto administration, says Alejandro Hope, security analyst with the Mexican Institute for Competiveness think tank.

"To some extent, Mexican agencies have become somewhat dependent on U.S. sources for some types of operations," Hope says. "The risk is that the Americans would be less forthcoming" if cooperation is less close or U.S. agents cannot access Mexican control centers.

PeÃ±a Nieto campaigned for president on economic and social issues primarily. On the subject of crime, which he raised rarely, he promised to safeguard ordinary Mexicans from widespread extortions, homicides and kidnappings. He barely mentioned cartels, which control significant portions of Mexico, own many legitimate businesses and use violence and bribery to prevent police, judges and politicians from disrupting their operations.

The Interior Ministry insists security is improving.

It reported a 17% reduction in the number of homicides related to organized crime during the first four months of PeÃ±a Nieto's administration compared to the same period last year. But estimates by news organizations show little change. And Hope says a review of the government figures reveal an unexplained spike in non-organized crime killings.

Some observers, including Hope, say PeÃ±a Nieto's plans to combat crime â?? such as boosting social programs and crime prevention and creating a 10,000-member militarized police â?? have yet to be implemented. Meanwhile, Mexico newspapers report that villagers in some states are forming armed self-defense groups to defend their homes and families and businesses.

Mendoza, the Acapulco priest, says the groups are indicative of the frustrations felt by ordinary Mexicans over the absence of the authorities. He is not optimistic that things will change soon.

"This violence developed over decades," he says. "It's not going to be resolved in one six-year term, even if there's a correct strategy."